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Just months after Netflix struck a deal to acquire the Warner Bros. studio, HBO, HBO Max, and Warner Games, the streaming giant has backed out of the arrangement, declining to raise its offer beyond Paramount’s “best and final” bid.
It’s just the latest twist in the acquisition saga, which started with a bidding war that reportedly also involved Apple, Amazon, and Comcast. Once Netflix and Warner Bros. came to an agreement on December 5th, Paramount tried to force its way into the deal, announcing a hostile bid worth $108.4 billion in cash. Unlike Netflix’s deal, Paramount’s includes an acquisition of all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its cable networks.
But after several rejections, Paramount persistently upped its bid. It eventually came back with an all-cash offer at $31 per share and promised to cover the $7 billion regulatory termination fee if its deal with WBD doesn’t close, along with the $2.87 billion termination fee it must pay Netflix for abandoning its deal. Warner Bros. Discovery determined that the deal is “superior,” leading Netflix to walk away, saying it’s “no longer financially attractive.”
There are already questions about where the deal will go from here, and concerns from regulators about the proposed acquisition. You can follow along below for all of the latest updates as they come in.
Netflix walks away from its deal to buy Warner Bros. after Paramount came back with a better offer
Image: The Verge
Warner Bros. says Paramount’s latest offer is superior to its current deal with Netflix.
A four-day clock for Netflix to respond just started, but here are the details of the offer that include a starting price of $31 per share and other assurances, like:
“…a $7 billion regulatory termination fee payable by PSKY in the event the transaction does not close due to regulatory matters, payment by PSKY of the $2.8 billion termination fee that WBD would be required to pay to Netflix to terminate the existing Netflix merger agreement, an obligation of Larry J. Ellison and an associated trust to contribute additional equity funding”
Paramount CEO David Ellison is Sen. Lindsey Graham’s guest at the State of the Union.
The South Carolina Republican said he’s bringing along Ellison, son of Trump ally and billionaire Larry Ellison, as his guest to the address. Paramount is in the midst of its persistent attempt to buy Warner Bros. Discovery over Netflix — a deal Trump said he’d be involved in before backtracking.
Warner Bros. says Paramount Skydance’s new bid might become better than Netflix’s.
Warner Bros. Discovery is telling shareholders it’s “continuing to engage” with Paramount after receiving its latest offer yesterday.
The new bid offers $31 per share, “a daily ticking fee equal to $0.25 per quarter beginning after September 30, 2026,” plus $7 billion from Paramount if regulators block the deal, and $2.8 billion to pay Netflix’s termination fee, among other details. If the board likes this bid better, it says Netflix will have four days to respond.
Ted Sarandos: “This is a business deal, it’s not a political deal.”
However, on Monday afternoon, Bloomberg reported Paramount Skydance has submitted another competing offer, improving on its previous $30 per share bid.
DOJ reportedly begins antitrust investigation into Netflix’s merger with Warner Bros.
Bloomberg and Deadline are both reporting that the DOJ has officially begun looking into whether the combination of Netflix and Warner would create a monopoly and hurt competition. Netflix, Warner Bros., and the DOJ have not publicly confirmed the investigation, but Deadline obtained a copy of the Civil Investigative Demand, which reads:
“This civil investigative demand is issued pursuant to the Antitrust Civil Process Act …in the course of an antitrust investigation to determine whether there is, has been, or may be a violation of the antitrust laws by conduct, activities, or proposed action of the following nature: the proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. by Netflix Inc, that may substantially lessen competition, or tend to create a monopoly in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, or Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”
Trump says Netflix will ‘pay the consequences’ if it doesn’t fire Susan Rice
Donald Trump threatened that there would be “consequences” for Netflix if it didn’t fire board member Susan Rice. Rice served in both the Obama and Biden administrations, and recently appeared on Preet Bharara’s podcast, where she said corporations that “take a knee to Trump” are going to be “caught with more than their pants down. They are going to be held accountable.”
Right-wing influencer and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer was quick to jump on the appearance and accused Rice of “threatening half the country with weaponized government and political retribution.” She also pointed out that Netflix, whose board Rice is on, is trying to merge with Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Discovery gives Paramount one week to present its ‘best and final’ offer
Image: The Verge
After rejecting Paramount’s latest acquisition bid, Warner Bros. Discovery says it’s giving the David Ellison-led entertainment giant seven days to make its “best and final” proposal. Though WBD is reopening negotiations with Paramount, the company makes it clear in a press release that it still favors Netflix’s $82.7 billion deal to purchase its studio and streaming service.
As noted in the press release, a Paramount representative told WBD that it would agree to pay $31 per share if WBD reopens negotiations, adding that this isn’t Paramount’s “best and final proposal.” Paramount has been upping its bid to purchase the entirety of WBD for weeks now, offering to cover the $2.8 billion termination fee WBD would have to pay if it abandons its deal with Netflix.
Paramount ups its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, again.
Now, Paramount is offering to cover the $2.8 billion termination fee that Warner Bros. Discovery would owe Netflix for abandoning the $82.7 billion merger agreement. It’s also tossing in a $0.25 per share “ticking fee” that it would pay shareholders for every quarter its deal hasn’t closed beyond December 31st, 2026.
Republicans attack ‘woke’ Netflix — and ignore YouTube
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
When Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos entered the Senate office building on Tuesday, he got thrown a curveball. What started as a standard antitrust hearing relating to the Warner Bros. merger quickly devolved into a performative Republican attack about the spread of “woke” ideology on the streaming service. At the same time, arguably a much more influential platform was completely ignored: YouTube.
After grilling Sarandos about residual payments, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) launched into a completely different line of questioning: “Why is it that so much of Netflix content for children promotes a transgender ideology?” Hawley asked, making an unsubstantiated claim that “almost half” of the platform’s children’s content contains so-called “transgender ideology.” The statement harkened to a pressure campaign launched by Elon Musk months ago in which he called on X users to unsubscribe from Netflix for having a “transgender woke agenda,” citing its few shows with trans characters — shows that were canceled years ago.
Republicans haul Netflix before Congress for being too ‘woke’
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos was launched into the middle of a congressional culture war on Tuesday as he testified before a Senate subcommittee about the company’s attempt to buy a large part of Warner Bros Discovery.
The hearing before the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee highlighted an array of traditional merger concerns on both sides of the aisle: that the deal could potentially raise costs for consumers, limit their theater experiences, or shrink the market for entertainment jobs. But a large chunk of the session also focused on Netflix’s allegedly “woke” programming, including content that features transgender characters.
What Netflix’s Warner Bros. deal could mean for TVs and remotes
Image: The Verge
This is Lowpass by Janko Roettgers, a newsletter on the ever-evolving intersection of tech and entertainment, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week.
If you’re in the market for a new TV, you’ll have plenty of different options these days, ranging from display technologies (OLED vs. QLED vs. micro RGB) to styles (shiny home theater displays vs. matte art TVs) to operating systems (Roku vs. Google TV vs. Tizen vs. Fire TV).
Netflix is eating Hollywood — because it has to
On today’s episode of Decoder, I’m talking about the bidding war over Warner Bros. Discovery, which is the biggest story in the entertainment industry right now, and for good reason. It has pretty much everything you could want in a buzzy Hollywood saga — big names, big money, and big drama.
Right now, the winning bidder is Netflix. The streaming juggernaut won the bid for Warner Bros., offering $83 billion dollars for the movie studios, but not the cable channels, to keep its content machine humming for more than 325 million subscribers.
Netflix revises Warner Bros. bid to an all-cash offer
Image: The Verge
Netflix has updated the acquisition terms for its Warner Bros. Discovery offer to an all-cash deal, replacing its initial $82.7 billion cash and stock agreement. The changes are designed to expedite the sale of WBD studios and streaming businesses, following repeated attempts by rival bidder Paramount to pressure shareholders into accepting its own $108 billion all-cash offer.
“The WBD Board continues to support and unanimously recommend our transaction, and we are confident that it will deliver the best outcome for stockholders, consumers, creators, and the broader entertainment community,” said Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix. “Our revised all-cash agreement will enable an expedited timeline to a stockholder vote and provide greater financial certainty at $27.75 per share in cash, plus the value from the planned separation of Discovery Global.”
Netflix is reportedly considering an all-cash offer for Warner Bros.
As reported by Bloomberg, the revised deal would replace Netflix’s existing agreement to acquire WBD’s studio and streaming business in a cash and stock transaction. The rumored change comes as Paramount continues to press WBD to accept its “superior” $108 billion all-cash deal for the entire company.
Paramount sues after Warner Bros. Discovery rejects its latest deal
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Warner Bros. Discovery has rejected yet another Paramount bid.
The WBD board of directors said on Wednesday that Paramount’s amended bid from last month “remains inferior” to Netflix’s offer, adding that Paramount “continues to provide insufficient value.”
WBD has received Paramount’s amended offer.
An update: Larry Ellison will guarantee his big boy’s offer.
Netflix is “100% committed” to releasing WB films in theaters.
There’s been a lot of talk about theatrical distribution, so we want to set the record straight: we are 100% committed to releasing Warner Bros. films in theaters with industry-standard windows. While this hasn’t been part of our business model until now, we are looking forward to bringing this expertise from Warner Bros. to Netflix.
Warner Bros. Discovery wants its shareholders to reject Paramount’s latest offer
Image: The Verge
Though Paramount Skydance was trying to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for much more money than Netflix is offering, David Zaslav and the rest of WBD’s board are urging their shareholders to give Oracle scion David Ellison the cold shoulder.
Today, WBD’s board announced that it has unanimously decided that its shareholders would be much better off rejecting Paramount Skydance and accepting Netflix’s bid to buy the company’s studio production and streaming arms. The news comes weeks after WBD first said that it was ready to take Netflix up on its $82.7 billion acquisition offer, and days after Paramount tried to keep the bidding war going by upping its offer to $108 billion
Even Jared Kushner thinks the Paramount WB bid sucks.
He’s withdrawn financial backing from the bid, which may leave it floundering, and the Warner Bros. board has recommended shareholders reject the hostile offer. It looks like everyone involved is beginning to realize what The Verge’s own Liz Lopatto pointed out yesterday: “What Paramount is doing doesn’t make any fucking sense.”
Update: The Warner Bros. board has recommended rejecting the Paramount bid.
Larry Ellison’s big dumb gift to his large adult son
Media is a business about dreams, and Larry Ellison’s son is dreaming big. This might explain why the case for Paramount Skydance to buy Warner Bros. Discovery is so incoherent.
In October, Warner Bros. put itself up for sale, leading to a number of bids. The two we are concerned with are a bid from Netflix and another from two nepo babies: David Ellison and Jared Kushner. David Ellison is the head of Paramount, but most famous for being Larry’s son. Jared Kushner is most famous for being Donald Trump’s son-in-law, though he also got his start in business by taking over his felon father’s firm when Charles was in prison; his firm is involved in the financing.
The art of the deal.
As Ted Sarandos and David Ellison play out a public spat over whose turn it is to play with Warner Bros., while trying to impress Trump and the regulators along the way, just remember that the real winners at the end will be HBO Max subscribers.
sam flynn:
It’s really fun how we all get to sit around and watch these idiots toss gold bars back and forth across Trump’s desk while waiting to see if an HBO Max subscription will be $80 or $100 a month this time next year.
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David Ellison pitches Paramount’s $108 billion hostile bid for WBD as “pro consumer.”
When you combine the number one streamer with the number three streamer, that creates a company that has unprecedented market power, north of 400 million subscribers. The next largest competitor is Disney, with just under 200 million. That’s bad for Hollywood, that’s bad for the creative community, that’s bad for consumers.
